Texts of Islam

The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'ân,: 22. al-Hajj: The Pilgrimage

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This is a passage from M.M. Pickthall's English translation of Surah 22 (Al-Hajj, "The Pilgrimage") of the Quran, a sacred scripture of Islam rendered in an early 20th-century formal English style. The surah opens with vivid apocalyptic imagery of the Day of Judgment — a cosmic catastrophe so overwhelming that nursing mothers abandon infants and pregnant women miscarry — used to argue for the reality of resurrection and human accountability before God. A central theological strand condemns three types of people: those who dispute about God without knowledge, those whose faith is conditional on worldly prosperity, and those who worship alongside God partners who can neither help nor harm them. The surah then shifts to the specific topic announced in its title, laying out the divine institution of the Hajj pilgrimage: God's command to Abraham to build and purify the Kaaba, the call to mankind to make the pilgrimage, and instructions on ritual sacrifice — notably emphasizing that it is inward devotion, not the flesh or blood of animals, that reaches God. The passage also contains a notably pluralist moment, listing Jews, Christians, Sabaeans, Magians, and idolaters alongside believers as groups whose disputes God will adjudicate on the Last Day, and justifies armed defense for those driven unjustly from their homes. Anyone considering reading it should know it is dense with direct divine address alternating between warning and promise, and that Pickthall's archaic diction faithfully mirrors the Quran's formal register while remaining accessible to English readers.

The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'ân,: 22. al-Hajj: The Pilgrimage

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